Embedding SDGs in Global Business

06-10-2017

In late September, 450 senior business executives as well as thought leaders from the public sector and civil society met at the CSR Asia Summit 2017, a two-day event held in Bangkok to discuss the pressing challenges, emerging trends and explore opportunities in today’s sustainable world.

During the summit, Joyce Chau, FTA Representative Greater China joined business representatives in a panel discussion on ‘Making the Sustainable Development Goals Your Business’.

Key takeaways from the discussion include:

Inclusion is the key; no one can work alone and all actors must collaborate.

Pursuing SDGs are not just cost but investment with rewarding return. Many good business cases have proven environmental performance can bring significant cost reduction.

SDGs do not just bring challenges but also opportunities.

Ms Chau encouraged global companies to cascade their influence and motivate their supply chain partners to work together towards the same goals. All companies should empower their staff to align their corporate targets with those set by national governments. The more communication and joint efforts, the better.

This is where FTA’s Vision 2030 strategy and its sustainability initiatives, BSCI and BEPI, can come into play to support business to achieve their goals by fostering global collaboration.